The first school in the Hornbine
District # 10, was built at the curve in the road on Spring Street near
the
Cole Brook Cemetery. It was called the Cole Brook School. When Hannah
Baker,
grandmother of Florence Piece of Swansea attended this school in 1825,
sessions
were held during the winter months only.

Lizzie
Baker Cole, daughter of Lizzie Douglas Baker, who taught here in
1868-1869,
stated that the land was given by her grandmother, Mrs. Nathaniel
(Susan
Pierce) Baker and that the school was built in 1847. Lizzie attended
school
there in 1848 and her teacher was Julia Willington.

The
wooden shutters still on the Hornbine School were used as shutters in
the early
years. Mrs. Amelia Horton Carpenter who taught here before the turn of
the
century wrote , “every night after school it would require at least 20
minutes
to go outside, unlock shutters, go inside, open the window, hook the
shutter,
close the window, place a stick over the lower sash. Why it was
necessary I did
not know, some days not a person passed the school.”

Originally
the building had two windows on the south and two on the north sides, a
chimney
on the back with flanking windows. The early Town Reports referred to
District
#10as South East School. The town
purchased additional land for the school house lot from Lizzie Baker
for $50.
in the 1890’s. An outhouse building with a boys and a girls side with a
wood shed
in the middle was built at this time. In 1923 the building was extended
14 feet
in the back, and two more windows were added to each side leaving no
windows on
the back. Attendance was as high as 49 pupils in 1928 with eight
grades. Ester
Hopkins was the last teacher. The school closed in 1937 and the 14
pupils left
were sent to Swansea Box Street School. The school had been named the
Hornbine
School in 1882.

The building was sold and changed
hands several times. During the 325th Anniversary or Rehoboth in 1968,
the
school was purchased by the Hornbine School Association through the
efforts of
many and given back to the town. Under the jurisdiction of the
Historical
Commission the school is now operating as a one-room school museum by
The
Hornbine School Association.